Photographing your work

KimG · 27 Mar 2013

There are a few pictures posted on here that do actually do credit to the work being photographed, I don't necessarily count mine amongst them though they are not the worst, good photos of your work go an awful long way to getting a good reaction and an excellently turned piece can look very off if the photo isn't up to scratch.

I have tried several different methods to get decent images with varying degrees of sucess and have had some nice comments about the shots at times, but while browsing through a few websites today I cam across this most helpful and very useful site by a turner who has taken the time to provide an excellent guide to making the most of your work with photography.

As with all tutorials, there is often a limit to how much we can actually implement ourselves, but at least with this you can grasp the principles and use what you have to hand to try and create better shots of your work, of course the value of that isn't so much in here where we are showing our work to friends, but if you are hoping to make any sales off such images, then good photography becomes critical, because as this guy states, no one going to look for more than a few seconds, so that first impression is vital

His name is John Jordan, the site may well already be familiar to you, but I am sure that there must be some on here to whom it will be new, here is the link

Note that at the bottom of that page is a link to the written instructions, they convey much more than the images on the first page!

I am certainly going to try to improve my own shots according to John's techniques!

bugbear · 28 Mar 2013

A lot of the stuff there about lighting (especially light balance) is pretty out of date.

Further, when working indoors, you can use REALLY cheap tripods (but DO use a tripod), because small modern digital camera don't have a flapping mirror, and DO have timed release. So there's no need for a heavy, vibration absorbing tripod, because there's no vibration.

BugBear

dickm · 29 Mar 2013

+1 for BB's comments. Only thing to add is that, while non-SLR digitals don't have the mirror-induced vibration, they can get moved as you press the shutter release. Obviously, using the delay would work, but it's all too easy to get impatient and catch the camera just as it goes off. DAMHIKT! Unfortunately, not many digitals seem to allow of the use of a good old mechanical remote release, though some do have digital remotes (at a price). In most cases, operator-induced shake is probably worse than that from mirrors, so if you can get a remote release of some sort, it's worth it.

KimG · 30 Mar 2013

There is still quite a bit of useful info on these pages though, even for digital users, like the use of the paper background & the way he has actually lit the subjects, these are examples that anyone can put into practice to get some nice looking shots of their work.

It is the inherant principles I was aiming folks at rather than the nitty gritty overly technical details, that is where the value of the pages lie. I use a digital SLR with a remote on a nice quality Manfrotto tripod, but using the pages as a basis for improving your photos can only be a good thing, besides, it is also free, and in the age of digital photography, so are the pics, so what's to lose?

Jensmith · 30 Mar 2013

I bought a cheap light tent off the bay (about £20) that came with lights and various colours of background and I generally find white is best. Occasionally use black if the subject itself is white.

It's fairly simple to make one from a cardboard box with white paper sides and top to diffuse the light, which is what I used to start with.

Diffusing the light so you don't get harsh shadows and an even lighting is key. I use a small digital camera on a small tripod but almost always use the 2 sec timer delay as pressing the shutter can shake the camera enough to create a blurred image when you look at it close up.